Luke graduates from the MTC

Luke has had a busy couple of weeks. I received an email from him last week and also an email from the mission secretary this week letting me know he had arrived safely to his mission assignment. Here is what he had to say in his final week in the MTC:

It's good to hear from you again. I wish I had read those two last
chapters of the book with you before I had left but I'm glad I got
those bits that you sent me. [Luke and I were reading The Continuous
Atonement by Brad Wilcox together but we didn't quite make it through.
It's an excellent book which I highly recommend.] I'm leaving the MTC
in about five more days and going out into Ghana. I'm pretty excited for
it, looking forward to meeting new people and helping them to learn
about Christ's Gospel. We spend a lot of time practicing with the teachers,
a pair of companions leave the classroom into another room where an
"investigator" is waiting for them. For a long time we all thought we
were doing a really bad job because the investigators would always
look super bored, like they're about to fall asleep, but after a while
we realized that they were just tired of hearing the same lesson over
and over again for multiple hours a day. When I first got to the MTC
I was super overconfident. I thought "I'm going to walk in there and
blow everyone away. The other missionary will all be like "this guy is
amazing we can't keep up." And the teachers will be like "you are the
greatest missionary I've ever taught, you should just go start
teaching investigators right now." And all the investigators will be
like "wow! you are so amazing, I know you just walked in here like
five minutes ago but could you baptize me right now?" And it will be
great, and I'll be the best missionary ever."  It didn't take long for
my expectations to change. Right off the bat I realized how much more
I needed to learn before I left the MTC and how unprepared I really
was. But now I feel much better about the whole thing. I've learned
so much here about the Gospel and about how to teach. I think that
when the time comes it probably won't be like how I imagined it would
but it will still be great. I am so grateful for everything that I've
learned, not just here but at home too. I'm so grateful for
everything that I learned from my seminary teachers, and from my
Sunday School teachers, and from you. I think I'm ready now, I think
I'll do well in the Lord's eyes, and I think I'll be able to help
people.

This week in a brief hand-written letter he mentioned that he finally feels prepared to enter the mission field and preach the gospel by serving the Lord. He is excited for all the people he is going to help because he is sure there are people the Lord has prepared for Luke to serve. Now that he is out in the field, his P-day will be Monday for the rest of his mission.

Here's some package and letter information for those interested:

Ghana Accra West Mission       MAIL  INFORMATION USA

PLEASE SHARE WITH ANY FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS WHO MAY WRITE

SENDING MONEY

Friends and family SHOULD NOT send money through the mail. The best way is for missionaries to organize a personal debit card before entering the MTC. Families can then deposit small amounts in the account when it is needed. The money can be withdrawn at an ATM in Ghana.  Large amounts of money should not be left in this account and families should monitor it carefully.

POUCH MAIL service from the USA

The Church provides a “pouch” mail service to countries where other mail services may not be reliable.  Each country regulates this service differently and the Church must comply with certain regulations in order to avoid fines and cessation of the pouch service.  Only the following items may be sent through the pouch: post cards and letters that are single sheet, folded into three panels, and taped at the top or placed in an envelope.  Letters sent in any other manner will be returned to the sender.

To send pouch mail from the USA write the name of the sender and return address in the upper left corner, affix standard postage stamps in the upper right corner, and address the letters as follows: 

 Missionary’s Name

     Ghana Accra West Mission

P.O. Box 30150

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

LETTERS & CARDS:    * For letters only. Do not use this address for packages. 

These can be sent by the Postal Service using the following address:

   Elder (Missionary’s Name)

Ghana Accra West Mission

PBM CT 209

Cantonments

Accra, Ghana, West Africa

PACKAGES:   PTO

1/2

PACKAGES:   

All packages must be sent using a Private Courier. DHL is recommended.  To ensure that your package is not stopped for duty, please indicate on the shipping label “duties and taxes will be paid by the sender.”  Address these packages as follows…     * FOR PACKAGES ONLY.    DO NOT USE THIS ADDRESS FOR LETTERS!

Elder/Sister (Missionaries Name)

Ghana Accra West Mission 

Fourth Circular Road

Coco Palm #3

Cantonments

Accra, Ghana, West Africa  

Another option:   Try contacting Jill Hebdon for some further advice or information.

Global Mission Shipping

702-285-4674

www.GlobalMissionShipping.com

I also received some pictures of Luke in the mission home before heading out to the field:

Welcome to Luke's Mission Blog!

This is my first experience with blogging. Jean was an old pro. She had a blog for her cancer journey and a blog for Ashton's mission to Japan. I'm excited to share Luke's experiences with those who are interested, and I figure this is the best and easiest way to go forward.

My plan is to put much of his email content that isn't personal here with a few edits for spelling and punctuation--I am an English major after all--and perhaps add some of my own thoughts. He has only been in Ghana ten days but I was amazed at the maturity and spirit I felt by his second email. In some ways it didn't even sound like Luke, because he already seems to have grown. I'm proud of his efforts to serve the Lord and I know he'll be blessed and so will we.

We received this great picture from the Ghana Accra West Mission secretary the week before he departed.

His first email was just a few sentences long:

I've made it to Ghana. Things have been pretty good so far.  The flight was long but now that I am here it was totally worth it.  I met up with the other missionaries. There were like fifty of them.  The MTC is one of the most amazing buildings I've ever seen. There is still so much to see and do so I don't have a lot of time for this email.  Just wanted to say hello and tell you that I got here safe.  I'll tell you more later.

His next email came a week later and I felt such a powerful spirit:

So much has happened since I've gotten here. Most of the missionaries at the airport were going to different Ghana missions but a lot of them were going to different African countries too, like Madagascar and Nigeria. I've been learning so much during my classes about how to greet and teach people in the mission field, and I learn more about the Gospel every day. All the missionaries here are great. My companion is from Utah and overall a pretty cool dude. He's SUPER friendly and greets EVERY person we walk past with a handshake or a surprise hug while they don't even know he's there or have ever met before (fortunately this didn't happen to me.) My schedule is pretty busy and I've constantly got things to do even on p-day (which is Friday).  I went to the Ghana temple today (which is just down the street from the MTC). It's a beautiful building. I'll see if I can send you some pictures I took of it but you could probably find better ones on line.  I'm not exactly the best photographer in Ghana. The first day here felt like it took a week but was full of good experiences. Ever since then the days have been feeling shorter but I have been having a great time here (I've got like a week left before I head out.) I don't think I have felt the spirit so strongly in my whole life (besides in the temple.) My time here has been both the best and the worst time of my life. The best because every day I learn something new. The spirit is super strong, and I've met a ton of great people. And the worst because all I've wanted to do is leave so I can go start teaching. I've wanted to do that since we said goodbye at the airport, and everyday that feeling grows stronger.

Also the most amazing thing happened here just two days ago.  Elder Bednar of the twelve apostles came here to give the dedicatory prayer of the Ghana MTC. I got to be an usher which gave me the opportunity to talk with and shake the hands of a couple members of the seventy, and I sat just behind the choir like five or six rows away from the pulpit. The Mayor and Chief of Police of Accra were both there along with several people from the press. The spirit was so strong during his prayer that I almost cried; I wish I could have taken some pictures but it was prohibited unless you were given express permission. Overall a pretty cool experience.

As much fun as I've had here I've missed you guys, along with everybody at church. Not nearly as much as it would take to make me ever want to go home early but still. I miss my room, I miss my friends, and I miss you guys. I miss talking with you about stuff and having you around to guide me. I miss listening to Crystal play the piano or having funny little conversations with her. I miss playing video games with River and Ashton (even though we would fight sometimes.) I miss talking with Symber and getting advice from her about the future. And I wish I could talk to you guys again. I'm looking forward to Christmas when I can FaceTime you all, and I have been praying for you all pretty much every day. But I'm glad I'm here, and I've felt so inspired by the Lord lately that I feel like I could do anything!  

P.S. This email took like forty minutes to write, and I have limited time so if nobody gets an email from me this week make sure they get this one. And feel free to put it on Facebook or whatever, thanks.